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Best Tent Camping near Greenwood, VA

650 Reviews

Tent campsites near Greenwood, Virginia range from coastal beach sites to inland forest settings, with several requiring significant hiking or paddling to access. False Cape State Park Campground offers primitive tent camping along Virginia's southern coast, while Sandy Bottom Nature Park provides walk-in tent sites with sand platforms approximately a quarter-mile from the parking area. Merchants Millpond State Park in nearby North Carolina features canoe-in and backpack tent camping options for those seeking more remote experiences.

Most walk-in tent locations require campers to carry all gear from designated parking areas to their sites. At Sandy Bottom Nature Park, tent sites include sand platforms, picnic tables, and fire rings with grates, with trash cans nearby but flush toilets located back at the parking lot. False Cape State Park requires a 5-6 mile hike or bike ride through Back Bay Wildlife Refuge to reach the tent camping areas, with no campfires allowed but small camping stoves permitted. One camper noted that "the park is a serene oasis away from traffic, no RV's, not a lot of people. A great place to get away from it all!" Water access varies, with some sites offering drinking water spigots while others require carrying in all water supplies.

Backcountry tent camping experiences differ significantly between coastal and inland sites. At False Cape, oceanside campers can choose between setting up behind the dunes or directly on the beach in designated areas, weather permitting. A review mentioned that "even on the fourth of July weekend, with every campsite booked, this place was quiet and felt very removed." Merchants Millpond's canoe-in tent sites provide a unique swamp ecosystem experience with cypress trees and abundant wildlife, though paddlers should be aware of underwater obstructions. Sandy Bottom Nature Park, despite its proximity to highways, offers relatively secluded tent sites spaced apart from each other, though highway noise can be heard throughout the park. Most backcountry tent sites in the region feature basic amenities like picnic tables and designated tent pads, with varying levels of privacy depending on vegetation and site layout.

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Best Tent Sites Near Greenwood, Virginia (9)

    1. Sandy Bottom Nature Park

    5 Reviews
    Newport News, VA
    17 miles
    Website
    +1 (757) 825-4657

    $11 - $42 / night

    "The park is centrally located with easy highway access.  Plentiful parking, lots of trails to choose from.  The staff was top notch and super kind and helpful. "

    "Sites: 11 primitive tent sites 2 of which are group sites 

    4 tent cabins that sit right on the edge of the lake

     The individual campsites are FCFS and you must park and hike in."

    2. False Cape State Park Campground

    11 Reviews
    Knotts Island, VA
    25 miles
    Website
    +1 (757) 426-7128

    $20 / night

    "We hiked in on the East Dike trail through Back Bay, about 5.4 miles, with everything for the weekend on our backs."

    "False Cape is a primitive campground that can only be accessed by walking or biking through the Back Bay Wildlife Refuge along the southern coast of Virginia."

    3. Merchants Millpond Canoe-In Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

    4 Reviews
    Gatesville, NC
    40 miles
    +1 (252) 357-1191

    $17 - $57 / night

    "We did the canoe-in camping and brought out Hobie kayaks (beware if you bring them our mirage drive seemed to find every downed tree or cypress knob under the water 😜) Buoys marked the different routes"

    "We were looking for a reasonably quick (one overnight) camping trip that was different, but within a 2ish hour drive."

    4. Wisteria Beach Hideaway

    2 Reviews
    Onemo, VA
    38 miles

    $35 - $50 / night

    "Loved the location - the beaches were surrounded by pine, wetlands, and tall grasses - it felt remote and not overdeveloped!

    This campsite is comfortable!"

    "Super close to a few different beaches. The bug screen and hammock that are part of the site was so appreciated. Also, having a shower was great - it felt like we were glamping!

    Went in September."

    5. Carter's Cove Campground

    1 Review
    Lackey, VA
    31 miles
    Website
    +1 (757) 220-0386

    6. Bennetts Creek Canoe In Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

    2 Reviews
    Gatesville, NC
    40 miles
    +1 (252) 357-1191

    $17 / night

    "The campsights are pretty close together so don't expect privacy on a busy weekend. The scenery is TOP KNOTCH!"

    "My group and I stayed at the Benett’s creek high ground primitive camp sites 1-3. It was a 4.5 mile paddle to the site, then roughly 1.5 down to the dock with a staged vehicle."

    7. Merchants Millpond State Park Backpack Campground

    1 Review
    Gatesville, NC
    40 miles
    +1 (252) 357-1191

    $17 / night

    "Around 7pm because we had a late start. Unfortunately we didn't stay because our site was hike in and I thought I did drive in. So we ended up getting a hotel instead."

    8. Merchants Millpond Group Walk-In Sites — Merchants Millpond State Park

    Be the first to review!
    Gatesville, NC
    41 miles
    +1 (252) 357-1191

    $72 / night

    9. Big Woods WMA

    Be the first to review!
    Wakefield, VA
    47 miles
    Website
    +1 (804) 367-1000
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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Greenwood, VA

14 Photos of 9 Greenwood Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Greenwood, VA

650 Reviews of 9 Greenwood Campgrounds

  • liz J.
    Aug. 21, 2023

    Sandy Bottom Nature Park

    A great place to hike and camp if you can't get out of the area

    The park is centrally located with easy highway access.  Plentiful parking, lots of trails to choose from.  The staff was top notch and super kind and helpful.  They were very insistent about the "no alcohol" rule.    

    Sites are first come, first served.  Must reserve in person.  Visitor's center is open 9-6.  

    The sites were located about 1/4 mile from the parking lot down a trail.  They were spaced nicely apart and had nice sand tent platforms with a picnic table and a fire ring with a grate.  Trash cans were very close by, which was super nice.  The bathrooms were flush toilets and running water faucets and located behind the parking lot, so a bit of a hike in the dark if you need to go.  Other than that, expect no amenities.  Bugs weren't terrible but were present.  Definitely bring bug spray.  

    The biggest negative was that no matter where you were in the park, there was significant noise from the highway.  Horns honking, sirens blaring, the general rush of cars going by.  There is no sound barrier between 64 and the park so every noise just filters right through the trees.  Not anyone's fault, but definitely a downside.  

    Overall when you consider the dirt cheap price of 10.60 per night, this campground delivers as advertised.

  • NThe Dyrt PRO User
    Jan. 1, 2022

    Sandy Bottom Nature Park

    Nature in the County

    Sites: 11 primitive tent sites 2 of which are group sites 

    4 tent cabins that sit right on the edge of the lake

     The individual campsites are FCFS and you must park and hike in. It is a short hike along the lake and placed a short distance from the trail so hikers will not be hiking through the sites. You have a sand bottom tent site, picnic table, fire ring/grill and trash. This is a beautiful 456 acre education and wildlife facility. Born from garbage dumps and it is great example of what can be achieved. This really is a great site.  There is an amazing nature center that overlooks Sandy Bottom Lake. Hiking, and biking trails, fishing, boating with boat rentals or bring your own, birding and wildlife viewing. 757-825-4657 

    LNT

    Travel safe

  • Chip G.
    Apr. 12, 2017

    Family Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

    These February days are why we live in the south...

    The 12 trips in 12 months’ progress well. February’s outing was Merchants Mill Pond. What a great place. It probably helps that the bath house had just been redone with fresh paint. But that wasn’t the only thing. The park staff was friendly and the camp sites are nice and spaced well apart. Each site had a fire pit, tent site and picnic table. I am not sure that all the tent spaces were leveled, but if you pay attention when you set your tent up you should be fine.

    I happened to be a glorious weekend in February and the temperatures were good enough for a hike in shorts and tee shirts. The trails were well maintained and it was a day well spent on the Lassiter Trail. The park also rents kayaks and there are marked water trails as well. Next trip will include a boat ride and a search for alligators (from a safe distance).

    Good hikes, good campground and evenings by the campfire. Definitely on the places to return to list.

  • Myron C.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 30, 2019

    Family Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

    Campground with a Different Ecosystem--Woods and Swamp

    Merchants Millpond is a great state park if you want to explore a different kind of ecosystem.  The heart of the park lies in its swamps filled with cypress trees and cypress stumps.  There are several camping areas of different kinds.  You can canoe in to one of their primitive campsites, which is on an island in the swamp.  There are other hike-in primitive sites, group camping sites, and there are also the family camping sites.   I stayed at the family camping site and decided to set up my hammock instead of a tent.  If you stay at Merchants Millpond, make sure you take and use insect repellent and lots of it.  I had the biggest problem with mosquitoes and ticks.  If you stay in a hammock, make sure it has mosquito netting.  The family camping sites have tent pads, lantern poles, and fire rings.  The bath house is centrally located within a short walking distance of all of the campsites.  The showers have hot water, but the bath house itself looks outdated.  The canoe-in site that I explored only has a pit toilet, but it did have fire rings and picnic tables.  You can hike to the island by way of a wooden bridge across the swamp, but it is mainly for those who want to canoe in.  If you can go off trail, you can see lots of wildlife.  I had the opportunity to do so since I was invited to participate in a search and rescue exercise.  I only saw one snake, which is unusual not to see more, but I also saw a deer and couple of turtles.  There is a bicycle trail, but the one I hiked on the most was the Lassiter Trail, which has a few wooden bridges and opportunities to experience the eastern woodlands and great views of the swampy millpond.  Fortunately, I did not run into any bears or alligators, which are common in this area.  The visitors center is large and modern, and there is a meeting facility.  The person that I talked to at the visitors center was pleasant and was able to answer my questions.  The staff is great to work with, and I know this because I volunteered to teach camping skills to 4H kids a couple of years ago at this state park.  Overall, it’s a great state park, but it lacks the amenities of modern RV parks.

  • Janet R.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 25, 2025

    Kings Creek

    Kings Creek Tent sites at Cheatham Annex

    There may be a bit of confusion about camping opportunities at Cheatham Annex Bass. It used to be that there was only one campground for the whole base, with a combo of RV sites and tent sites. The options have expanded and changed: a brand new RV park was built several miles away on the northside of the base, and it has its own brand new Rec Center and bath facilities etc. The Kings Creek Campground is on the south side where the old RV park used to be, but is now for tent camping only. There are still the remnant water and electric hookups available, and each site has plenty of grass for setting up tents, or you can set up on the cement pad. Each site has a picnic table, only some have fire rings. Sites 11 through 18 are in a loop around a nice kids playground, with trees surrounding the sites and glimmers of Kings Creek in the background. Sites 1-10 in the adjacent loop are right on the water where Kings Creek enters the York River, and the sites circle round a nice picnic area. Sites 6-7 are currently not being rented out as it has been discovered that the gravesite of a Revolutionary War soldier is located right there. Both tent loops have close access to a nice clean bathhouse, and there is good proximity to the base golf course and a really nice outdoor swimming pool. A great fishing pier nearby extends out into the York River. The MWR office rents kayaks and other equipment and has a coffee shop if you want hot breakfast

  • Sarah C.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jul. 16, 2017

    Family Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

    Cool & Unique Paddling

    What a rare and beautiful eco-system the cypress swamp is! The state park offers several camping options: drive in, hike in and canoe in.

    Each drive in site has a picnic table, fire ring/grill and tent pad. There are showers, spigots and restrooms for campers staying here. There are three canoe-in sites, two of them have pit toilets and the third requires you to pack out all waste. If you want to enjoy the amenities of the drive-in sites but want to spend time canoeing the pond (which I highly recommend) then that's certainly an option, too.

    There aren't many eco-systems like this left so it's absolutely worth checking out.

  • Napunani
    Jun. 24, 2022

    Chickahominy Riverfront Park

    Needs Some Overdue TLC

    PROS 

    Perfect campground to explore the Historical Triangle 

    Campground along Virginia Capital Bike Trail, which was an excellent riding trail 

    Site#335 level side-to-side 

    Sandy gravel site 

    Moveable plastic wood picnic table 

    Metal fire pit with cooking grate 

    Shady site 

    Wood and ice for sale at Guest Services 

    Slight river view from Site#335 

    Toilet/shower building clean 

    Pool 

    CONS 

    Overused James City County Park…definitely needs some TLC applied 

    Check-in clerk very curt and extremely non-customer service oriented 

    Never saw a camp host site or the actual camp host 

    Weirdly laid out full hook up campground. Some sites are 20 ft long 

    Sites are extremely close to each other 

    Had to park tow vehicle next to trailer due to short length of site 335

    Tight roadway thru full hook up campground 

    Dirt roadways = dusty 

    Empty campsites were heavily littered

    No privacy from neighbor sites 

    Extremely low water pressure even when campground is not fully occupied 

    No gate or controlled access to campground so lots of gawking drive thrus 

    Lots of speed bumps throughout park 

    Site#335 fire ring filled with ash upon arrival 

    Toilet/shower building lit up like a Christmas tree all night long

    Street lights throughout campground 

    Road noise from VA5 

    No WiFi 

    1 bar Verizon

  • C
    Aug. 10, 2019

    First Landing State Park Campground

    Beautiful but noisy (updated)

    Updated after a second trip (August 2020) This campground is generally really lovely, lots of trees, good Chesapeake beach access, but not very well designed for tent camping. Some of the sites are as I observed on our first trip, but all are not created equal. A lot of them are small and close to the camp road and run right into each other (no privacy) and lack sufficient flat space to pitch two tents. So many of the camper/RV sites have lots of flat private space behind where the RV would be parked, which would be great for pitching tents. The map is not to scale; sites 130, 132, and 133 back on to site 84, for example. Site 83 backs on to site 93, which in turn is open to 94. These three would be nice for a large group camping together. The sites on the east side of the campground back right on to the boundary fence of the neighboring military base (barbed wire fence). Restroom capacity (in COVID times) is supposedly limited to the safe number of 10, but 10 would be way too many. Four stalls and three sinks do not work out to 360+ square feet of space.

    Initial review (August 2019) The tent sites at this campground were gorgeous. Deep and private-feeling and well shaded. But so close to the road. I saw the map that clearly indicates Shore Drive running alongside the campground and I thought, “It can’t be that close!” But it is. Four lanes of 55mph traffic running within 25 yards of all the tent sites on the south side of the campground.

    We had such a fun time, despite the noise and lack of sleep, that we will almost certainly go back, but will definitely book one of the interior loop sites or maybe even one of the 20’ camper sites instead. Additional points: multiple daily nature programs for all ages in summer, really helpful staff, but the “camp store” doesn’t sell many camp supplies or groceries except ice and firewood.

  • Gary G.
    Oct. 27, 2020

    First Landing State Park Campground

    Outstanding campground with easy access to the beach!

    We were very pleased with our camping experience at First Landing State Park.  The campground is well maintained and has a knowledgable and friendly staff.

    The drive thru campsite we chose was clean, level, and came equipped with a fantastic fire ring and picnic table.  There was lots of room on the site, and we could have set up a couple of tents toward the back if needed.

    Access to the beach and surrounding hiking/biking trails was the real strength of this location!  It is certainly not wilderness camping, but with water and electric hook ups, we set up a successful basecamp for exploring the region.

    The weather was great for late October, and the crowds were minimal.  We will likely make this an annual trip.

Guide to Greenwood

Tent camping near Greenwood, Virginia offers a chance to immerse yourself in nature while enjoying a variety of well-reviewed campgrounds that cater to outdoor enthusiasts.

Tent campers appreciate these amenities

  • The False Cape State Park Campground provides essential features like drinking water, picnic tables, and clean toilets, making it a comfortable choice for campers.
  • At Sandy Bottom Nature Park, you'll find well-spaced tent sites equipped with sand platforms, fire rings, and easy access to trash disposal.
  • The Wisteria Beach Hideaway offers a unique glamping experience with amenities like showers and a fire pit, ensuring a cozy stay close to the beach.

Tent campers like these nearby activities

  • Enjoy a scenic bike ride or hike to the beach at False Cape State Park Campground, where you can explore the beautiful coastline and wildlife.
  • Sandy Bottom Nature Park features miles of trails for hiking and biking, along with opportunities for fishing and boating on the lake.
  • Experience the tranquility of nature while kayaking or paddle boating at Sandy Bottom Nature Park, perfect for families and outdoor lovers alike.

Tips for tent camping near Greenwood

  • Be prepared for a hike to your campsite at False Cape State Park Campground, as it requires a minimum 4-mile trek from the parking area.
  • Bring plenty of water and bug spray when camping at Sandy Bottom Nature Park, especially during the summer months when bugs can be prevalent.
  • If you’re looking for a more private experience, consider the secluded sites at Wisteria Beach Hideaway, where you can enjoy the beauty of nature without the crowds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Greenwood, VA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Greenwood, VA is Sandy Bottom Nature Park with a 4.8-star rating from 5 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Greenwood, VA?

TheDyrt.com has all 9 tent camping locations near Greenwood, VA, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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